A traditional Nigerian wedding held at Porchester Hall pictured in
Channel 5 documentary Eamonn & Ruth: How The Other Half Lives |
According to the publication
Every bride wants to look a million dollars when they tie the knot – and affluent women from Nigeria are spending just that to achieve it on their big days.
Ruth Langsford meets Elizabeth Aisien, centre, who says it isn't unusual for wealthy Nigerians to spend £1m on their wedding day |
A model tries on a Vera Wang wedding gown worth £100,000, such dresses are in demand with Nigerian brides |
In-demand event maestro CEO and founder of Prive Luxury Events Elizabeth Aisien says London has become the destination of choice for Africa’s wealthy elite when they tie the knot.
‘It’s a competition, people want something like “wow, she arrived by plane”. The bride wants to look good and wear the best of everything.’
As a result, she said brides will pay around £100,000 for a bespoke dress by a designer like Vera Wang and £475,000 on diamond jewellery.
Ruth visits a Vera Wang shop with wedding planner Elizabeth Aisien, far
left. While there, a jeweller, second from left, brings diamond
earrings, pictured front right, for Elizabeth to chose on behalf of her
rich client |
‘The other women want to make a statement, “I wore this diamond, my diamond is bigger than yours”,’ Elizabeth explained.
The luxurious Dorchester hotel is a popular wedding venue for affulent Nigerian couples |
She added that the venues of choice for weddings and receptions are up-market London hotels including The Dorcester, The Landmark Hotel and Claridges.
She added: ‘Kensington Palace is another favourite for Nigerians now.’
The Landmark Hotel in London is another popular wedding venue for uber-rich couples |
According to the Historic Royal Palaces, prices for weddings at the Palace start from £12,500 exclusive of catering and VAT.
Elizabeth said after forking out to look her best, a bride will then spend a fortune wining and dining her guests – all three thousand of them.
She explained: ‘They will spend the most money on Champagne as you have two to three thousand guests at a traditional Nigerian wedding and they will get a bottle of Champagne each.’
This means at an average Nigerian wedding, £150,000 will be spent on booze.
And it’s not just food and drink lavished on the guests. While at British weddings, attendees may get a token favour like a chocolate, at affluent Nigerian weddings, they will get a gift bag worth thousands.
A bride is pictured walking up the aisle on the show, as wedding planner Elizabeth reveals it's all about making a statement of wealth |
Such a bag might contain a £345 perfume, a cashmere scarf worth £350 and a £5,000 watch.
With such luxuries being given out at weddings, it is perhaps no surprise that according to Tatler, every third pound currently spent in Harrods is by a Nigerian.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy as the Niger Delta region in the south holds some of the world’s richest oil reserves. A recent world wealth study found the number of millionaires in Nigeria has risen about 305 percent since 2000.
No comments:
Post a Comment